The Death of Classical Computer Science: An Interview with Matt Welsh

Matt Welsh, former Harvard professor and AI researcher, argues to Julian Wood that we're witnessing the death of classical computer science as language models evolve into general-purpose computers capable of direct problem-solving without human-written code. He envisions a future where AI eliminates programming barriers, democratizing computing power so anyone can instruct computers through natural language. While acknowledging concerns about job displacement and societal equity, Welsh believes this transformation will unleash unprecedented human creativity by putting the full power of computing in everyone's hands, moving beyond the current "programming priesthood" to universal access to computational problem-solving.